Free Republic

Regardless of your faith and beliefs, everyone loves a light show, especially at Christmas. Not so long ago, it was considered acceptable to hang a single strand of lights on your rooftop. Now, families and even entire neighborhoods compete against one another with the choreographed chaos of hundreds of thousands of twinkling LED lights, animatronic lawn ornaments, and the oft-underappreciated inflatable Santas, snowmen and reindeer.

It’s a party all around for this 6-year-old. Tiny trendsetter Rory Ehrlich took out the top spot for this year’s Kids Mullet Championships, with his hairstyle dubbed the “Cheddar Wiz.” A Pennsylvania kid’s professional-in-the-front, party-in-the-back hairstyle won in a hairy competition between 300 kids ages 3-8. “He was invited to the Phillies game and he got to meet with John Kruk and talk mullets,” Airen Ehrlich, Rory’s mother, told WPVI-TV. “Rory now thinks that John Kruk is his bestie.” In addition to becoming Kruk’s best friend, the 6-year-old won $5,000 in prize money. He has big plans for his winnings,...

Karla Torres dedicated 120 hours of her life and used 14 rolls-worth of duct tape to construct a one-of-a-kind prom dress as part of a nationwide contest. Karla is in the finals of Duck brand’s annual Stuck at Prom contest, which challenges high school students to transform the utility do-it-all tape into lavish and unbelievable fashion pieces as either a prom dress or tuxedo.

ot even RuPaul’s Drag Race is safe from the woke diversity police. A former contestant has called out the long-running show for what he claims to be a lack of gender diversity, saying the series needs to feature “drag kings” — i.e., women who cross-dress as men. Drag queen Victoria Scone said he thinks drag kings would be an invaluable addition in an interview with Digital Spy. “Diversity is always going to be a plus in every sense,” he recently told Digital Spy. “It brings variety to performance as well as the fact that everyone deserves a seat at the...

Joey Chestnut picked up his 16th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest win on Tuesday at Coney Island in the New York City borough of Brooklyn holding off James Webb and Geoffrey Esper in the men’s field. Chestnut devoured 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes. He set the record for most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes with 76 in 2021. He had 63 in last year’s contest. hestnut got off to a hot start, eating five hot dogs and buns within the first 30 seconds. With 5 minutes remaining in the contest, Chestnut ate about 40 hot dogs and...

Eating superstar Joey "Jaws" Chestnut shook off a rain delay and gobbled his way to another win at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, downing 62 franks and buns in 10 minutes. Chestnut out ate runner-up Geoffrey Esper and the rest of an international field of 15 competitive eaters by double digits to clinch his eighth straight Mustard Belt and 16th overall. Esper, of Oxford, Massachusetts, managed to ingest 49 hot dogs and buns. In the women's contest, defending champion Miki Sudo forced down 39½ hot dogs and buns to collect her ninth Mustard Belt. But before...

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa man – with his natural curls, highlights, and a mustache to match – is hoping the country thinks his mullet is the best in all of America. Anchor Brant is vying for the USA Mullet Championship top prize along with 99 other guys from across the country. Brant, a University of South Florida student studying communications, told FOX 13 his mother was the reason he applied in the first place. "Over the pandemic, I thought no one was really going to see me, so I started growing it out," he explained. "A bunch of people...

A woman who jumped to her death from a skyscraper in New York City on Sunday morning has been identified as former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst. Kryst, 30, was a lawyer and also worked as a correspondent for the entertainment show Extra. She won the Miss USA pageant in 2019. Kryst, who had an apartment on the ninth floor of the building, leaped from the Midtown high-rise around 7:15am and was found dead on the sidewalk beneath the 60-story hi-rise. She had last been seen on one of the building's terrace, up on the 29th-floor.

ROCKFORD, Mich. (AP) — A competitive eater wolfed down 50 chili dogs in 22 minutes, setting a local record at a bar in western Michigan where thousands of customers have their names on the wall for eating just a fraction. Molly Schuyler showed up and just started eating Wednesday at The Corner Bar in Rockford while other customers watched with their own meals, WOOD-TV reported. “Hot dog!” Schuyler said. After 19 minutes, she had eaten 44 hot dogs. “Brought her out six more dogs. In 22 minutes, she ate 50," server Lisa Paavo said.

The man who helped create Jelly Belly jelly beans is hosting a series of cash prize treasure hunts around the country before his retirement. Anyone who participates will then be eligible to search for the ultimate treasure, which is a key to one of his candy factories. David Klein helped the company candy now known as Jelly Belly Candy Company create Jelly Belly jelly beans in the late 1970s and wants to spread the fruits of his labor around before he retires for good. To do so, he'll be hiding a golden ticket (in the form of a necklace) in...

<p>The three-night competition, which had been scheduled for July 23-25, typically attracts more than 100 burly, bearded contestants from around the world.</p> <p>KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of the 40th annual Ernest Hemingway Look-Alike Contest in Key West, organizers announced Thursday.</p>

**SNIP** On Tuesday evening, the Pete for America Innovation Team sent out an email to supporters launching a "contest" in which the person donating the smallest unique amount would win a prize. "All you have to do to win is donate the smallest amount that nobody else donates," the email read. "In other words, suppose you donate $1.00. If someone else playing also donated exactly $1, you both lose. We'll see if only one player donated $1.01 and so on until we find an amount donated exactly once, and that's our winner." The email added that "multiple donations are allowed"...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A man died shortly after competing in a taco-eating contest at a minor league baseball game in California, authorities said Wednesday. Dana Hutchings, 41, of Fresno, died Tuesday night shortly after arriving at a hospital, Fresno Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti said.

A 17-year-old resident of Loudoun County, Virginia is a finalist in Duck Tape’s annual “Stuck at Prom” Scholarship Contest, in which high school students compete to make the best possible prom wear out of duct tape. Christina Mellott, now a rising senior at Freedom High School, entered the contest this past school year after hearing about it from friends and family. Mellott has been designing clothes for three to four years already, and got her start in design after receiving a sewing machine for Christmas. Her friends and family thought she may be able to cinch the Duck Tape competition...

One of the only things that can ruin hitting a home run is watching your ball fly over the fence and hit a car, but that made things even better for Milwaukee Brewer Mike Moustakas on Sunday. Moustakas slammed one into center field in the eighth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates that broke a 2-2 tie and landed on the roof of a Toyota Rav4. It wasn’t parked there by a clueless owner but was part of a promotion to give it away if a Brewer hit it with a ball, which Moustakas learned after the fact."I didn't know that I actually...

But Prime Minister Édouard Philippe upended expectations with an announcement of an international competition to replace the iconic spire that collapsed into Monday’s inferno. He also raised the prospect of a 21st-century twist atop a 12th-century creation. “This is obviously a huge challenge, a historic responsibility,” Philippe said, noting that the new design would have to be “adapted to technologies and challenges of our times.”

Miss Universe is breaking new ground at this year’s pageant with the first transgender contestant to ever compete for the crown, and those betting on the competition are declaring her a heavy favorite. Angela Ponce won her qualifying rounds in Spain and will represent her country at the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok, Thailand. Ponce, who hails from Seville, was the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Universe Spain and is competing to promote gender diversity and equality. As the competition nears, online bookies are taking action, and Ponce has grown to become the clear favorite with...

DOWNERS GROVE, IL - The Illinois Tollway, in partnership with Blick Art Materials and MB Real Estate (MBRE), is inviting high school art students to participate in the 2019 Tollway Map Cover Art Contest for a shot to land on the cover art of the official 2019 Illinois Tollway Map. Recognizing the Illinois Tollway's commitment to diversity, the theme for the 2019 contest calls on student artists to submit artwork that illustrates the importance of diversity and inclusion. Areas of focus for the 2019 Tollway Map Cover Art Contest may include, but are not limited to, the following themes: Diversity...

Since 2007, Joey Chestnut has dominated the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, winning the event 10 times in the last 11 years. The 34-year-old professional competitive eater, nicknamed Jaws, will look to defend his title this Wednesday and win the $10,000 top prize in New York City. Chestnut is a -550 favorite on the hot dog eating contest odds with the field going off at +325 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In the days leading up to the event, Chestnut has shown plenty of confidence, claiming that he will be shooting for the world record in this event on...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past six years, business dreams have become a reality for 30 military veterans thanks to Dream Vacations' award-winning annual contest "Operation Vetrepreneur: Become Your Own General" contest. Each year five veterans are awarded a travel agency franchise, and in 2018, the best franchise opportunity for veterans is expanding its contest to award seven veterans with a free franchise, as a result of a grant from the International Franchise Association (IFA) for winning the Gold Franchising Gives Back award in the "Supporting our Veterans" category. The contest will begin on Memorial...